Digital certificates are necessary to a variety of technologies and devices in existing network environments, wherein identity authentication, data encryption and other functions can be performed with the digital certificates, but there is a need of a solution to a support of automatically applying for, updating and issuing a digital certificate.
Taking wireless local area network technologies as an example, the wireless local area network technologies relate to two categories of security solutions: firstly the Wireless Local Area Network (LAN) Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI) is a security solution of wireless local area networks proposed in the Chinese National Standard GB15629.11 of Wireless Local Area Networks; and secondly the Robust Security Network (RSN) is a security solution defined in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Standard IEEE802.11i of Wireless Local Area Networks. The common characteristic between them lies in that an authentication process can be performed by a digital certificate solution based upon the public key cipher architecture, and before then authentication process is performed by the digital certificate solution based upon the public key cipher architecture, a station (STA) and an Access Point (AP) which are digital certificate applicants shall apply for in advance digital certificates, by which their identities can be identified, from a Certificate Authority (CA) as a digital certificate issuer, and then install the digital certificates obtained into their devices.
In order to automatically apply for, update and issue different types of digital certificates by exchanging information, what information needs to be provided by the digital certificate applicant to the digital certificate issuer in digital certificate applying and updating processes, or what information needs to be provided by the digital certificate issuer to the digital certificate applicant in a digital certificate issuance process will directly influence whether the security mechanism of the wireless local area network technology can work effectively.
However how to automatically apply for, update and issue a digital certificate by exchanging information goes beyond the design of the standard of wireless local area networks, and there has been absent so far a working solution to automatically applying for, updating and issuing a digital certificate.